About the Pastors of

Grace Family Church

Gary and Laura Miller met each other while attending RHEMA Bible Training Center in Tulsa, OK in 1978 founded by Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin. Laura was in her 2nd year of school while Gary, who is from St. Louis, was in his 1st year. They were married in October 1979.

After graduation, Gary & Laura began a traveling ministry which took the young couple all over the U.S. Gary was the special speaker in churches while Laura many times would have a special song for the service. Their four years of traveling took them through Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and to many of the states in the northeastern part of the country. Gary & Laura also made a few mission trips overseas before living in the Philippines for a little over one year. Gary said, "We just had a heart to go tell as many people as possible about Jesus Christ.

In the Philippines, the Millers held open air evangelistic meetings along with pastor’s Seminars throughout the islands. Gary again said, "We loved it in the Philippines and could have stayed longer, but felt our time overseas was over. We came back and pastored in Arizona for 2 years before coming to Washington, MO (a suburb of St. Louis) to pioneer a church, called Grace Family Church.

"I grew up in south St. Louis county, graduating from Missouri Military Academy before going to The Citadel in South Carolina. I didn’t hear anything at all about the Gospel until I was 24 years old and working in the Engineering and Design Department at Monsanto in St. Louis. In all that time, I never heard the real ‘truth’ about the Bible and being "born again" until a co-worker, Bob Platt, shared with me at Monsanto," Gary said. Bob and his wife Nancy are owners of Rosewood Inn, a bed & breakfast in Lone Oak.

During his time pastoring the church in Washington, Rev. Miller served as President of the Washington Ministerial Alliance. It was during his tenure, the Alliance was able to raise over $23,000.00 for Flood relief in 1993. Rev. Miller was also able to get a Baccalaureate Service was also reinstalled as part of the Washington High School calendar of events after an absence of 30 years.

"We are also very pleased to have been able to help start another church (also called Grace Family Church) in Branson. Rev. Dennis Case, from St. Louis is doing a wonderful job as the pastor. The Lord has been very gracious to us in allowing us to have part in that work," Rev. Miller said.

"It was during our planning of the work in Branson, I started thinking more and more about one of the main purposes of the Church; which is to reproduce ourselves. I guess I got so excited about it, it rubbed off on me," he said in reference to his new work in Kentucky.

"Right now, we're trying to go slow. We don't want to be in a rush. More than anything, we want to be right where the Lord wants us and at the right time."

"We're really excited about still being able to hear the voice of the Lord and being able to step out in faith. Laura and I are both in our 40’s with 4 children; Sarah 15, Benjamin 14, Jonathan 10 and Stephen 8. To resign our church after 10 years and start all over again with nothing, takes a step of faith. But the Lord has called every Christian to live by faith, walk by faith and please Him by faith. "We've already grown to love Paducah and people here. Compared to the St. Louis area, everyone is so very friendly here. It's very easy to fall in love with this region. We are really looking forward to getting to meet more people from this area."